


Recovery Process

by MidnightMuse234



Category: Bleach
Genre: But only if you squint, Comfort, Implied Ship, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Post TYBW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 14:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23134363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMuse234/pseuds/MidnightMuse234
Summary: Shiro hates the world of the living but he has to stick around because his Shinigami is too stupid to get the rest he actually needs.Loose/implied HichiIchi! :)One-shot. For the Seireitei's March fanfic contest! Prompt: "World of the Living"
Relationships: Hollow Ichigo/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 142





	Recovery Process

Shiro hated the world of the living.

He never thought he'd miss the sideways inner world of his stupid Shinigami, but here he was, sitting at Ichigo's desk, free to do whatever the hell he pleased and all he wanted was to return to Ichigo's inner world.

The world of the living was so boring.

At least in the inner world, he could destroy skyscrapers as he pleased, and harass the old man until he agreed to fight with him. At least he could actually _ do something. _

But he couldn't break things here. Nor could he fight the old man. Nor could he bug Ichigo, for that matter, because his stupid Shinigami had gotten himself sick.

Shiro huffed and glanced at Ichigo, watching his chest rise and fall. Ichigo's expression seemed peaceful for once too, no scowling, just at ease. He was finally asleep.

And Shiro was going to keep it that way, damn it. He didn't need his stupid King getting himself killed because he was dumb enough to fight a Hollow when he could barely hold a sword.

Not that Shiro cared, or anything. Really, if Ichigo got himself killed, then it would be easier for Shiro to take over their body. In fact, Shiro wasn’t even sure why he was still in Ichigo’s room. He could leave, go back to their inner world, and be happy-

"HOLLOW!"

Shiro grabbed the blasted Substitute Shinigami badge and threw it out the window. He glanced at Ichigo's face. Orange brows furrowed a little before Ichigo settled in his bed again. Shiro sighed in relief.

He smirked as he gracefully hopped over his sleeping host, and landed on the windowsill. He made a mental note to retrieve the badge after he dealt with the Hollow. At least, for now, he finally had something to do.

He paused on the window sill. He wondered, for a moment, if someone else would get to the Hollow before he could. Then Shiro shook his head.

Rukia was in the Soul Society. The whole thing with the Quincy army and Yhwach had left the Soul Society in chaos. So, it was only logical that Rukia needed to stay behind and help tidy things up.

_ The Substitute Shinigami can handle things in Karakura Town until we can reappoint someone to look after it. _

Tch, yeah, of course, the Captains expected Ichigo to handle things all by himself. They'd even forgotten about Ichigo's friends when they made their little declaration.

Well, not that the Soul Society wasn’t incorrect about Ichigo being solely in charge of Karakura for a while. Chad was visiting relatives, Orihime was travelling in order to learn from great chefs around Japan, and Uryu was…

Shiro scratched his chin. Where was the nerd, again?

Oh, right, Uryu hadn’t fully explained the situation to Ichigo either. All he said was that he needed to make things right in Hueco Mundo, and help the other Quincies settle into the world of the living.

Ichigo wanted to go with him, and Shiro wouldn’t have been opposed to his King going to Hueco Mundo (at least it was more exciting than the world of the living) but Uryu insisted that Ichigo had to stay behind. All it took was a “who’s going to protect Karakura town if you're not here” and Ichigo decided to stay.

Shiro groaned.

Whatever, at least Shiro was on better terms with Ichigo now, so he could materialize freely. Even if he hadn’t materialized for training purposes yet, at least he could be here now for his idiot King while he was sick.

Shiro dashed above Karakura town and found the Hollow with hardly any effort. In fact, he'd been lost in his thoughts so deeply that he just about ran into the damn thing. He removed his inverted Zangetsu from his back, sliced the Hollow in half, and sheathed his sword once more.

With a grimace, he stared at the park he'd found himself in. Great, that was too fast, he hadn’t even needed his smaller blade, and now he was going to be stuck with nothing to do again.

He sighed. He really did hate the world of the living. But at least his King was safe and resting. That's all that really mattered at the end of the day, he supposed.

When Shiro returned to Ichigo’s room, he noticed that Ichigo’s bed was empty. He bolted to the door and out into the hallway. He glanced in the bathroom and saw that Ichigo wasn’t there, then he turned to go downstairs and that’s when he crashed into someone.

“Watch where you’re going,” that someone scolded. Shiro instantly recognized Ichigo’s voice (even if it was a little rough from being sick). Before Shiro could reply, Ichigo held up his badge. “Mind telling me why this was out on the street?”

“It was loud,” Shiro replied matter-of-factly.

“Yeah,” Ichigo said, “that’s why I had to go get it. It shut up by the time I got to it though. Did you… take care of the Hollow?”

Shiro crossed his arms. “And so what if I did?”

“Thanks.”

Shiro blinked. Did his king just… _ thank _him?

“I probably would have gone after it, fever and all. I don’t even know if I’d be able to handle it right now,” Ichigo continued. He walked past Shiro and moved back to his room.

Shiro blinked out of his stupor and followed Ichigo. “Well, yeah, no shit. You’re totally useless right now.”

“_ Thanks _,” Ichigo repeated, this time with sarcasm in his voice.

“Anytime, King,” Shiro replied, grinning at Ichigo. “Now get your dumb ass back to bed.”

Now that Shiro thought about it, maybe being bored in the world of the living wasn’t as bad as being bored in Ichigo’s inner world. At least he could keep a better eye on his King’s wellbeing out here, and he wasn’t constantly getting rained on.

Oh, and Ichigo actually acknowledged him. So, there was that.


End file.
